Oil-cracking still



J. L. GRAY.

OIL CRACKNGSTILL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.21.19H- RENEWED NOV. 13.1919.

1,33 1 ,909. Patented Feb. 24, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

$1 @Hozmmg5 J. L. GRAY.

OIL CRACKING STILL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21.1911. RENEWED NOV. 13.1919.

Patented Feb. 24, 1920.

JOHN LATHROP GRAY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

OIL-CRACKING STILL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 24, 1920.

Application filed February 21, 1917, Serial No. 150,026. Renewed November 13, 1919. Serial No. 337,885.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN LATHROPIGRAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented certa n new and useful Improvements n )1l- Cracking Stills, of which thefollowing IS a clear, full, and exact description.

This' invention relates to an improved apparatus for superheating liquids or vapors,

and at the same time confine it so that comparatively great pressures are produced, 2'. 9., upward of 70 lbs. per square inch, in order to facilitate the splitting up of the various hydrocarbons of the 011. The oil 1s usually heated in pipes of comparatively small cross-section, the coils of which are localtgd in a furnace or pther heating means. oil conducting pipes should be of steel or wrought iron in order to withstand the pres- .sure to which they are subjected, but it has been found that such steel or wrought iron pipes, even though filled with oil, rapidly deteriorate and burn out when exposed directly to a high degree of heat. A

One of the many objects therefore of the present invention is to devise acoustruction which will overcome this difiiculty, and which while protecting the pipes from burning out, yet'does not prevent the communication of the desired heat to the 011 or vapor within the pipes. This is accompl shed hy embedding the steel or wrought iron 01lcarrying'pipes within a casin of cast iron and in intimate contact therewith so that the cast iron receives the direct application of heat, and conducts it to the pipes embedded therein in such a. uniform and difl'usive manner as to greatly increase the durability and longevity of the pipes. A further ob ect of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this kind which may be easily taken apart, cleaned and repaired, and in general improve theefiiciency of such oil cracking stills.

of these cracking processes it is In the preferred embodiment of my invention shown in the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the still installed in a suitable furnace, the latter being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of said still;

Fig. 3 is a partial section along line 22 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a detached detail of one of the return bends for connecting adjacent ends of pipe.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 indicates a casing of cast iron, preferably in the form of a hollow cylinder, with,

' lugs 5 and 6 for supporting the same upon the walls 7 and 8 of a suitable furnace 17. The furnace may be of any suitable construction butpreferably arranged to support the still horizontally and to, direct the furna'ce gases around all sides of the still. As shown, the fire box 14 is below the still and cross partitions 15 and 16 between the side walls 7 8 cause the heated furnace pass first along the underside of t e still, then through the hollow interior and finally back over the top of the still to reach the stack 18 of the furnace.

ases to The cylindrical casing 1 has a thick cylindrical wall, within which is embedded, in intimate contact therewith, a plurality of straight lengths of steel or wrought iron pipes such as 2. As shown in Fig. 2, these straight lengths of pipe extend through the cylindrical wall of the casing from end to end parallel to the axis of said casing, and have exposed portions 3 and 4 protruding from each end of the casing.

The ends of each pipe are provided with pipe 2 In a similar manner, the alternate ends of ad acent pipes are connected toand extending from the entering pipe 2 at thebottom, around one side of the casing, up to the exit plpe 2 at the top of the easand 2 respectively, and it is through the 10 operation of these outlet valves that the ressure within the pipes may be controlled. n' Fig. l the return bend connections are shown at the left only for half of the pipes, namely, the series 2 to 2, and at the right of said view the return bends for only the lower half of the other series 2 to 2 are shown for the sake of clearness in illustration.

It will be noted that the return bends 10 are detachable from the ends of the straight pipe lengths so that the apparatus may be opened up at any time andthe pipes cleaned out, or new straight lengths inserted when desired, as I find this a great improvement over a continuous coil arrangement. The

exposed protruding ends of the pipes with the return-bends also take care of the expansion and contraction of the pipes, due to changes of temperature, and provide for 80 an elastic system of heating coils. Furthermore, in order to locate the pipe lengths close together within the casing, the. flanges 9'upon the end of the pipe lengths are staggered, whereby the flanges of two adjacent 8b pipes do not come together to, widen the space which would otherwise be required between said pipes. This staggered overlappin arrangement is preferably accomplishe by having each pipe length extend- 40 ing farther from one end of the casing than its adjacent neighbor,..and extending less far from the other end of the casing than its neighbor. In this way a uniform straight length of pipe may be used for the apparatus. It will also be noted that the thickness of cast iron casing at no point surrounding the steel or wrought ironpipe is substantially less than the radius of said ipe. No exact measurements need be given for, this thickness of casing around the;

sur e to'be withstood by the pipes. 56 I am well aware that various changes in details and modifications of structure may be made over the preferred form of my apparatus herein described and shown, and therefore I do not wish my invention to be limited to this precise embodiment thereof.

Moreover, although the subjoined claims specify wrought iron pipe, it is understood that suitable steel pipe may be used in place thereof, without departing from my invention. I

What I claim as new is 1. A superheater comprising a plurality of straight lengths of wrought iron pipes arranged in a cylindrical series, each length of pipe having a covering of cast iron in intimate contact therewith.

2. A superheater, comprising a hollow cylindrical casing of cast iron, and having straight lengths of wrought iron pipe embedded in the cylindrical wall thereof and extending therethrough parallel to the axis of said cylinder.

3. A superheater, comprising a hollow cylindrical casing of cast iron, and having straight lengths of wrought iron"pipe embedded in the cylindrical wall thereof and extending therethrough parallel to the axis of said cylinder, and return bends connecting together adjacent ends of pipe to form a continuous conduit back and forth through said casing.

4. A superheater, comprising a hollow cylindrical casing of cast iron, horizontally supported and having straight lengths of wrought iron pipe embedded in the cylindrical wall thereof and extending therethrough parallel to the axis of said cylinder, return bends connecting together adjacent ends ofsaid pipe to form one continuous conduit leading from the lower part of said casing back and forth throu h the cylindrical wall thereof at one side 0 said casing, to the upper part of said casing, and a separate continuous conduit from the lower part of said casing back and forth through 'the cylindrical wall thereof at the other side of said casing to the upper part of said casing.

5. The combination with a superheater, comprising a hollow cylindrical casing having pipes embedded in its cylindrical wall,

of a furnacev for supporting said casing horizontally, and partitions in said furnace for directing said heated gases successively along the lower side, insideand upper side of said cylindrical casin Signed at New York, Y., this 6th day of February, 1917.

Joni: LATHROP GRAY. 

